“Okay, Flying V,” Terra says. “Now, two turns down and then open into the Diamond.”
I feel my legs all over the place, and my ankles lose their position. I drop to the ground. “Not pretty at all,” I say with a laugh.
“Let’s do it again.” She stands at the base of my pole as I climb again.
I do better the second time and even better by the third.
“Let’s put it all together,” she says. “Pirouette to climb to Flying V to a double turn to Diamond.”
Whew. Okay. I’m used to going in and out of single moves. This might be taxing on my arms and legs.
But I face away from the pole, grasping high, catching a wink from Merrick before I begin the moves.
I’m a little off on the positioning for the climb, but I get there, then do the Flying V, and I more or less make the Diamond to the ground.
“Good,” Terra says. “Now, keep going. The moment you Diamond to the ground, go right back in. Make an endless loop.”
I start again, running the sequence.
“Excellent,” Terra says. “This time, do something other than a Flying V into the Diamond.”
I choose a Hello, Boys, and climb into it, knee crossed over the poll and arm out, then spin down into the Diamond.
Terra claps her hands. “That was a great round. Keep doing it until the others arrive. You have about five minutes.”
I’m already sweating and tired, and class hasn’t even started. But as I turn back to Merrick watching me, I feel energy surge in me.
I’ll do this all day if he’s there, his hot gaze on my body.
The other girls arrive, taking their fill of Merrick as they enter.
“I see the hot one’s here,” one of them says.
“It would be fun, dancing for him,” says another. “But he can’t stop looking at his woman.” She nudges me.
It’s hard to know how to feel in these moments. Some pride, maybe, that they are jealous of Merrick’s interest in me. But it’s so complicated with the club and the rules, and any of those girls can have him more easily than I will.
Maybe I shouldn’t have become a house mouse.
But then Merrick wouldn’t have been forced to watch me dance.
We learn a new move, a cross knee release, which will work with the Hello, Boys and the sit moves I already know. I am starting to see a short routine form in my head with the new transitions.
By the time class is over, my arms and belly ache, but I know I’m not stopping here. I have a date with a tiny red outfit and a new pole. I can’t wait to see it.
Merrick passes me my sweatshirt as we walk to his bike. “I may be guilty of some untoward fondling of your sparkly bits in the pocket.”
Every word of his spikes through me like a bolt of electricity.Guilty. Untoward. Fondling.
I pick up my helmet from his handlebars. “As long as you do some untoward fondling of my bits while we can be alone.”
He sucks in a breath. “That can be arranged.”
We’re playing with fire. I know it. So does he. But I can’t help it. It’s too fun. Too exciting.
As we ride to the Leaky Skull, which won’t open for hours, the wild feeling that comes over me in the bar is already here. I hang on with one arm and use the other hand to explore what I can reach. His stomach, the bumps of his abs. In a brazen moment, I run my hand up his shirt to slide across his nipple.
I’m on fire by the time we pull around the back of the deserted bar. I’m ready to do anything.
